The Olmsted Falls Fire Department. Falls voters will likely be presented with a 2 mill renewal levy to fund the department this year.

OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio — Voters might be faced with choices on
three levy renewals this year. City Council approved legislation on three
bills that advanced a trio of ballot issues which would continue funding
Southwest General Health Center, the city fire department, and parks.

At its April 8 regular meeting, council approved a
bill authorizing the mayor to contract with Southwest for a 1-mill levy
supporting the hospital. After suspending the three readings normally given to
bills, council also approved two resolutions declaring the necessity for the
renewal of a two-mill tax for the Olmsted Falls Fire Department, and a one-mill
levy for the upkeep of parks.

The Southwest levy would be collected between 2016 and 2020,
and the other two would be collected five years after passage.

Susan O. Scheutzow, legal counsel for Southwest General,
said that because the hospital levy is a renewal, its effective millage rate
would be much lower than the 1 mill listed in the language of the legislation
passed by council, and that would appear on the ballot.

Olmsted Falls' Interim Finance Director Steven Presley said
that the effective millage for the Southwest General levy is 0.314, meaning its
cost for the owner of a $100,000 of home is $9.61 annually, and $14.42 for the
owner of a $150,000 home.

The fire levy renewal is written as a 2 mill tax, but the effective
millage is 0.628, amounting to $19.23 for the owner of a $100,000 property, and
$28.85 for a $150,000 house.

The park levy is 1.0 mill, but effectively 0.529,
translating to $16.20 per $100,000 of property value, and $24.30 for a $150,000
home, said Presley.

Presley said that all these amounts are what homeowners
currently pay, and they would remain the same if the levies were renewed.

Scheutzow said that the center has for decades been
supported by levies from Olmsted Falls, Brook Park, Strongsville, Berea,
Middleburg Heights, and Columbia Township, all of which maintain contracts
similar to the Falls'.

Communities which contract with Southwest each elect three
trustees to a System Board, and the council or other legislative body of each
municipality selects a trustee for the same board. At-large members of the
system board must also live in one of the six contracted communities, Scheutzow
said.

At the March 8 meeting, Olmsted Falls city council discussed
the possibility of holding a special election in August of this year to field
the fire and park levies. Presley said that it would cost $2,300 per precinct
to hold a special election. Olmsted Falls has eight precincts, putting the cost
of such an election at $18,400.

However, Donegan said that no decision had been made about a
special election.

"If we're going to pay for a special election in August is
not certain," Donegan said.

Council must take further actions before the fire and park
levies are placed on the ballot. The city must now submit the levy proposals to
the Cuyahoga County Auditor, in order to certify the total current tax
valuation of the city, and the projected dollar amount that the levies would
raise. Council must then approve the county's estimates, and vote again to put
the levy before voters.

Donegan said that she was concerned that putting three levy
votes to voters in one year was not an ideal course of action, but that it was
one that had to be pursued given the circumstances which she inherited from the
previous administration. She said that she wished to have a dialogue with
residents about how the city goes about collecting taxes.

"I am concerned. We're kind of working with preexisting
conditions. We need to have an energetic conversation about levies with the
taxpayers," said Donegan. She said that this conversation was especially
important in light of voters'
rejection of an operating levy in November.

Donegan said she hoped to restructure how the city
approaches tax issues. Specifically, she criticized the narrowness of some of
the levies' focus, singling out the levy that funds parks, but whose revenue
cannot be spent on recreational activities.

"We have to balance administrative responsibility. We need a
longer-range plan for all levies. We've got to consolidate more," Donegan said.

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